Posts tagged: debt

Apr 01 2010

The 6 Dirty Secrets About Debt Consolidation The Banks Dont Want You To Know.

The myths spread faster than the trues, that is why I am going to explain some of the most common myths in the credit repair area, one of the biggest myths is that you need a professional agency to manage your debt problems, this agencies can help you nevertheless they charge big fees for something you can handle yourself pretty well.

Myth 1: I Can’t Do It Myself

As with many things, we need help once in a while, but credit repair is certainly something that you can do quite easily on your own with a little elbow grease and time. When I first looked at my credit report back in January 2007, I saw some late pays, a judgment, and some other “not so good” marks on my credit report. I screamed, “I’ve got to get a credit agency to help me with this! There’s no way I can do this myself!” Yeah, so I thought. How did I do it myself? I got educated that’s it. And now, you are going to get the best education on how to repair, rebuild, and maintain your credit score. After some time of taking a more in-depth looking into my credit report, I noticed some huge mistakes by either the creditor or credit bureau. These were not my mistakes, but the mistakes of “The Man.” I found mistakes on multiple accounts, ranging from multiple late pays, wrong accounts, to closed accounts, when in fact they were open. Turns out, it’s estimated that anywhere from 75% to as many as 90% of credit reports contain errors.

This is the Myth # 2: You can not fix your bad credit.

Wrong. Just because you have bad credit doesn’t mean that you can’t repair it. It may take longer to fix, but it is repairable. There are many fast ways to restore your credit, build positive lines of credit, and get yourself back on the right track to good credit. If you think a 520 is bad-it is. I was turned down by every credit card I applied for. I even got denied at Banana Republic in front of 20 people at Christmas time. Yeah, no fun If I can do it, then so can you. It’s a matter of becoming educated and this videos will show you how to get your credit back.

The number 3 myth: You just have one credit Score.

The reality is that you have 3 credit scores, there are from the major credit reporting agencies, all 3 show different scores, so when applying for a credit one company may use a different report than others, it is always good to check your credit score in the 3 bureaus, because they can vary a lot among them.

The 4 Myth: If you check you credit this will lower your score.

There are soft inquiries and hard inquiries, and they affect in a different way your credit score, the hard inquiries are those that affect your credit score and are done for the companies you wish to get credit from, the soft inquiries does not affect your score and these are the inquiries that are done in order to obtain your information for promotional proposes.

Myth 5: Shopping Around For a Loan Will Lower Your Score

This is a very common myth, if you are searching for a mortgage, home equity loan, or car loan and you apply from multiple vendors this will only appear on your credit report once. This only applies if the same kind of inquires are made within 14 days of each other. Unfortunately, this doesn’t apply for credit cards!

Myth 6: The Only Way To Improve My Score Is To Remove All Negative Items

This is a partial true, because as a matter of fact erasing your bad marks is just one part of the whole solution, what will boost your credit score is building “positive credit”. Can you still remember those days were you were turned down from a credit card company because you did not have credit? actually what they were trying to say is that you did not have build a “positive credit” with credit card companies.

“How to reduce your credit card interest rate with one simple phone call” this is a free advice

Is more simple than you think, and here is what you have to do: Get your telephone, dial their number and ask them to reduce your interest rate!!! just like that, by the way, tell them that you have sitting in front of you a credit card with a lower interest than the one they are offering you. Maybe a zero percent rates for the first 6 months, which after that period will turn into 8% rate. If you have a higher rate this technique will help you to lower it. Tell them that you are thinking in transfer your balance unless they decrease your interest rate, if you don’t get a deal with the operator ask to talk with the supervisor, in most cases the threaten to leave them is the key.

Before hring a professional to help you with your finance go to Miguel Pancardo site and get his excelent free report on debt consolidation canada and how to get out of debt in his website. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Dec 08 2009

Why to Consider Filing for Chapter Thirteen to Stop Foreclosure

Filing for bankruptcy can sometimes be an effective way to stop foreclosure. The type of bankruptcy you need to file if you want to have any chance at saving your home is chapter thirteen bankruptcy reorganization. This is the only type of bankruptcy that will allow you to keep your home. Filing for bankruptcy under chapter seven will only discharge your debts, not let you reorganize them.

For people who are having trouble paying their monthly payments, bankruptcy reorganization allows the possibility of restructuring debt with new terms so that the resulting payments are more manageable. Chapter thirteen bankruptcy does not help people who have more debts than they can ever hope to repay. You must be able to present a realistic plan for repaying your debts within a reasonable time period.

When you file for reorganization under chapter thirteen, the foreclosure process on your home will be halted, at least temporarily. This can buy you some time to work out another plan for saving your home. For example, if you have a buyer but need more time for them to close. However, keep in mind that even if your plan succeeds, you are going to end up with a bankruptcy filing on your credit report in addition to the foreclosure action that is already there.

If you end up with both a home foreclosure and a chapter thirteen bankruptcy on your credit, it will really reduce your chances of getting a loan in the future. It is best to have as few negative marks as possible on your credit report. That is especially true of the biggest negatives – bankruptcy, foreclosure and eviction.

Since bankruptcy reorganization is one way that someone facing foreclosure has a shot at keeping their home, it is worth taking a look at if you are in that situation. If you qualify for bankruptcy reorganization and can come up with a plan that is acceptable to the court for paying back your debts, you may be able to stay in your home.

One of the major pitfalls of reorganization is the danger of falling behind on payments again. Bankruptcy is your last chance. If you decide to go this route, you must be careful to stick to your plan. Any deviation could put you right back into bankruptcy court, this time to force the sale of your assets. If you set up a reorganization plan, be sure that you will be able to follow through on it. Don’t agree to payments you aren’t going to be able to keep up with.

A reorganized payment plan is not guaranteed when you enter chapter thirteen bankruptcy. The judge may determine that you are unable to pay off your debts and refuse your plan. It is a good idea to discuss your case with a good bankruptcy attorney before deciding to proceed with chapter thirteen bankruptcy. An experienced attorney will have a pretty good idea of how likely you are to be able to reorganize your debts under chapter thirteen.

Chapter thirteen does not help everyone. In fact, it can make things worse if you are unable to keep up with the reorganized debt payments. You should always do plenty of research before making a major financial decision, and this is no different. Learn all you can about bankruptcy and foreclosure before deciding whether chapter thirteen bankruptcy is the right choice for you.

No person on the planet needs to lose their house. This is why there are so many folks looking for a way to Stop Foreclosure. If you are one of them, you may want to look for Foreclosure Help.

Nov 23 2009

Student Loan Deferment Availability By Lenders

Today’s economy has hit Americans very hard. Many are struggling to get by let alone pay student loans. Before you get behind on your student loan payments, there are several options that you may qualify for with student loan deferment programs. Some of those options include payment relief, forbearances and deferments.

Contact your lender to find out if your situation qualifies for a deferment. If you are suffering a hardship like unemployment or if you have started school, you might qualify. Keep in mind that depending on the type of loans you have, you might be responsible for the interest that accrues during the deferment period.

One form of deferment is for military personnel. If you are active duty or are called into active duty this deferment is available to you. Your loans may also qualify for deferment during demobilization.

A deferment is offered to any reservist who was enrolled in school and called back to duty during that time. It doesn’t matter if you are a current reservist or retired. The deferment can last up to- months from the end of your active duty or if you go back to school.

If, according to federal regulations, you are experiencing economic hardships, a deferment may be available to you for up to 3 years if the loan is a FFEL, Federal Perkins or Direct Loan. Regardless, you need to contact your lender to find out if you qualify.

As with any time you need to apply for assistance, you are going to need to contact your lender. Forbearance can last as long as 3 years. To have your payments temporarily suspended or possibly reduced, apply for forbearance. As with a deferment, the forbearance will only be approved for a certain amount of time. One difference between a deferment and forbearance is that you will still have to pay the interest on your loan. If you can’t get approved for a deferment, apply for the forbearance.

If your loan is a Plus Loan, you will be held to the same standards as other loans. Interest will continue to grow and compound during the forbearance or deferment time. You don’t have to pay it at this time but it would be in your best interest to pay it.

While the lender will ask you choose a repayment plan when you first enter repayment status, you may want to change later if different plans might work better for your financial situation. The FFEL Program, you can change plans once a year. The Direct Loan Program allows you to change plans at any time as long as the maximum repayment period under your new plan is longer than the time you have already been in repayment.

A private student loans consolidation can help you pay off student loan quicker than you imagine. Find out at Pay-Off-Student-Loan.com

Nov 05 2009

Handling Debt Through Settlement

The recent barely-averted recession has caused us all to tighten up our belts and hold on to our money especially tightly. But for all too many, that’s not enough. The real estate roller coaster has put many people into huge pits of debt. There are many solutions for tending to debt, but without a little guidance far too many debtors pick the wrong option for them, harming their credit rating for years to come. Debt counseling, consolidation, settlement and even filing for bankruptcy are all necessary and useful services for people in debt, and it’s up to you to find which one is best for your situation. Bankruptcy and settlement have, for better or worse, become the most commonly used methods of getting out of debt, due to simplicity and various other advantages they provide.

Bankruptcy is most commonly filed as a chapter seven or chapter thirteen. A chapter seven is the superior option, with debt being reduced or even dismissed entirely in some fortunate cases. However, it’s not up to you to decide what chapter you file under! Since 2005, significant legal revisions have made it so that the court decides which chapter a bankruptcy is filed under, not the debtor. A means test, which is the first procedure to start up a proper bankruptcy filing, evaluates your income and expenses versus the standards for redeeming the debt. Falling short of the IRS-set standards of the means test will allow you to file a chapter seven. However, if you can even pay as little as a hundred dollars monthly towards your debt, then you will have to deal with a chapter thirteen filing instead.

A means test is basically something that evaluates how much money a filer makes and what kind of expenses he has. This is then measured up next to debt redemption standards decided by IRS regulations. Based on these regulations, if the filer doesn?t meet up to the income guidelines, he is allowed to file for bankruptcy under the auspices of chapter 7. But, it takes meeting very strict guidelines to get a chapter 7. If the means test says the person is able to put as low as $100 to pay off the bills, then the person will be given the option of filing for a chapter 13 bankruptcy. In both scenarios, the borrowers must pay for and receive credit counseling and budget analysis. Even though Chapter 13 allows a bit of relief on a person?s monthly bills, it?s not as generous to consumers as Chapter 7 and has several disadvantages that make a lot of borrowers decide they don?t want to go with this method. The main negative of a Chapter 13 is that after the terms of the filing are set, the borrower?s finances may be ruled over by a trustee of the court. Most people don?t like to have an outsider involved with their finances all the time, so this makes getting a Chapter 13 very unsatisfactory and usually the borrower decides to try debt settlement instead.

Debt settlement, also called debt negotiation, is a somewhat new and hard line way of debt relief that gives a lot of advantages over counseling, consolidation, and bankruptcy. First, the benefit the borrower sees immediately is that their payments are about half when all their bills are put into a settlement compared to their current payments. The types of credit accounts that you can place into a settlement are credit cards, department store accounts, unpaid utilities, doctor bills, and additional kinds of unsecured debt. Additional pros of this method are: If you get your debts settled, you can stop your salary from being attached or garnished – If you let your creditors know you?re trying to settle your bills with this procedure, they will be assured they will get at least some of the money you owe them. Because of this, they aren?t as likely to sue you while the settlement process is ongoing. Debt elimination ? Existing amounts can go down by between 40 to 70%, depending on your account holder. Most of the time, the combined accounts in a settlement get taken down by 50%.

Added security for secured assets ? Getting your payments down and getting rid of some of your unsecured debt helps you get rid of the pressure on your secured assets. For instance, debt settlements are mixed in with loan modifications to assist homeowners in lowering all their payments geared towards their debt and thus, improve their chances of being able to get new terms on their mortgage.

Completely paying off your bills ? When the debt reduction is done, the schedule set up to pay it off is variable, but usually is about 48 months. However, if you only made minimum payments on the previous accounts, it may take more than 25 years to get rid of it.

Debt settlement and negotiation is becoming an increasing accepted manner for consumers to address the issues of debt overload without filing for bankruptcy. Consumers still need to review all available forms of debt relief before making a decision. One of the best ways to sort through the available options is to contact an attorney with experience in consumer debt relief to decide which option is in the best interests of the consumer. Getting on the road to financial recovery is simple the matter of taking that first step.

Layla Vanderbilt is the content coordinator for a leading website that offers for instant bad debt consolidation advice and guidance.

Oct 08 2009

Debt Consolidation: an Outline

by Sean Flynn

Comprehending the outline of debt consolidation is essential before entering into the process. Debt consolidation is a way of bringing manifold debts into a single payment. This style of debt consolidation assists in decreasing payments and also the rates of interest. This is not any magical wand to vanish the debts, but when approached perfectly, the debts turn to be easier in managing.

Debt Consolidation Loans

Monetary planning is one of the controversial areas that need proper calculation to consolidate loans. The debt consolidation loans are given so that all the other loans get accumulated as one. If you have multiple debts, you can seek one big loan by consolidating the entire debts loan and firstly pay all the small loans. This will keep you debt free and you will have to repay the big loan alone. Debt consolidation loans offer guidelines to re-organize the financial situation and to accomplish goals easily. The borrower becomes free from debt in an effective manner.

Debt consolidation companies

Debt consolidation companies that have to approached need to be repute such as AICCA and NFCC. They will offer credit counseling and help in analyzing the debts, arranging monthly payments, negotiating the creditors and in mending the credit rating and planning future. This also allows the borrower to understand his position and his need. Debt consolidation companies give loan to get out off the debts, but there are some principle ways such that as a borrower you must have an online bank account featuring savings account so that your debts get paid deftly and automatically.

Lowest Interest rates

Banking on the idea of debt consolidation is good, provided you look for reputed companies offering lowest interest rates. There must be fringe benefits such as repayment to be done in long periods, free consolidation quotes and affordable monthly repayments. The alleyway to freedom is barbed, but ascertains pleasantness eventually. Approaching debt Consolidation Company that gives loan with lower interest rates is beneficial so that the past loans are paid for less. Trading aiming for fixed interest rates is also the best.

Longer repayment tenure

Consolidating loans with the assistance of debt consolidation companies is definitely an advantage as they have experts to work on your debts to be consolidated. You can bargain for lesser rates of interest and longer repayment tenure. This is of great assistance as you can get out of the debts and also pay one loan regularly.

Affordable monthly payments

Debt consolidation conveys changes in the financial situation. It offers a debt free expedition by proffering debt consolidation loan. This helps in transforming the credit ratings and gives time to uncoil. The debt consolidation lenders also aim in making money. Hence, you as a borrower should affirmatively request and resolve with affordable monthly payments.

Debt consolidation is advantageous for people loaded with many debts. They should make use of this opportunity to take off their debts and approach repute companies and acquire one loan. They should negotiate interest rates, accept affordable monthly payments and the tenure of repayment should be longer.

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Aug 10 2009

How Consolidation Loans Can Help You

by Dean Byler

It is not extraordinary now to hear about huge companies shutting down because of bankruptcy. There are thousands and thousands of people who have been left jobless, literally overnight, and with no place to turn to because they cannot find another job immediately and because they have bills upon bills to be paid off.

Since the credit card culture was something that pervaded every aspect of the average citizen’s life, we are now faced with too much credit and too little cash to repay that credit.

Now, we are in a deep fix wondering about the possibilities of getting out of it. Consolidation loans can be a great help for many at times like this. What are consolidation loans? To explain it in everyday language, consolidation loans are loans that combine all those other loans you may have into a single loan, increasing the repayment period, and reducing the monthly payments you will be paying.

Although the consolidation loan can be seen as a God given when people are in great difficulty, the consolidation loan also has a negative side. As an example, people may end up paying more as the repayment period increases.

If you are not bothered about the sum of money you pay, you will have many other advantages such as not having to deviate your focus and waste your time on multiple loans. Consolidation loans are in that way, a blessing to numerous people.Now the million dollar question; when should you go for a consolidation loan?

First of all you need to sit down and calculate all the debt you have. This includes your credit card bills as well. After this you need to check the interest you are paying currently for all those loans and credit card bills.

Step three would be to find a lender who you think would be willing to give you consolidation loans, and will also meet your requirements. Generally consolidation loans are given using property you own as collateral. Hence, real estate agents are an ideal party for finding the best consolidation loan loaner.

After studying all your requirements for the consolidation loan, it is your decision to go for the best choice you have in your hands. After taking the decision to choose the lender and the payment plans, everything else is as easy as filling a form and submitting it with a few documents.

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Aug 08 2009

Loans And Houses

by Jake Smith

Today everyone wishes to possess a self owned house. Some people can afford to buy house on their own but majority of people prefer taking loans either from banks or financial institutions. There are many banks and financial institutions that are offering easy loans for purchasing houses and even construction of same. One may choose a bank or any financial institution on the basis of the banks charging lesser rate of interest. There are certain terms and conditions which should be followed before assigning the loan to a person. The banks or financial institutions shall also ask the person to submit some documents which are necessary in order to avail such loan. The basic reason for asking these documents is to authenticate the identity of the person who is in need of a loan.

There are various options for tenure of the loan like three years, five years, ten years and so on. These categories differ from one bank to the other. One may choose any of these categories which is suitable to that person.

Depending on the tenure, Equated Monthly Installments i.e. EMI are calculated and the person is informed about it. EMI and number of years are related to each other and as number of years increase, EMI decrease and visa versa. Banks are much concerned with EMI and their main goal is to get back the entire loan amount and that too along with interest.

The person who wishes to buy a house on loan should first calculate the price of the property. The other important thing is to see whether the property which the person is willing to buy has any other legal obligations which are to be fulfilled. It is always better to get a No dues certificate in order to prove that the property is free from any encumbrances. Bank or the financial institution before granting any housing loan requires the borrower in need of housing loan to submit application form along with other documents that are relevant and involve the financial repaying capacity of the borrower. These documents include income proof and residential address proof. Banks also check the residential address of the person as well as the company or organization in which the person is employed.

After all the conditions and requirements of bank are fulfilled bank issues a sanction letter which has all the details in it. These loan details include the actual loan amount, the rate of interest charged, tenure of the loan as well as the mode of repaying the loan amount. It is also the condition of the bank and financial institution to mortgage the original documents related to the property that is being purchased. The reason bank or financial institutions keep these documents are just for the security purpose. These documents stay in safe custody of the bank till the entire loan amount is completely repaid. These documents are also sent for scrutiny in the regular audit of the banks. After visiting the property and ensuring everything the loan is finally disbursed.

The housing loans is a blessing for those who are in need of house and cannot afford to buy on own.

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Jun 25 2009

You With An Offer To Clear Past Due Bill New Rule Means Less Money

by Chris A Smith

Credit card default rates are at 10% the highest ever. Banks who issue credit cards may have to greatly increase the amount of cash reserves to cover these debts thanks to a proposed accounting standard change. More money for reserves means less money for lending.

What does this mean to the average consumer?

First of all, if you are behind on your credit card payments and you can’t see a way to catch up, now is an excellent time to call your card company and negotiate a cash settlement. It’s probably a good idea to use a non-profit credit counseling service to assist you in coming up with a proposal that is reasonable and a plan for how to pay it.

Why are the banks eager to close out bad credit card accounts? It has been the practice of most banks to bundle credit card loans and sell them as investment deals. These deals are considered “off the books” and as such do not have to be shown on the bank’s balance sheet. In other words they have no impact on the bank’s earnings even if the loans go bad. The new accounting rule will change that and eliminate “off the books” deals.

Bank regulations require that a cash reserve be kept to cover bad debt on loans. However, since the off the books investment packages are not included on the bank’s balance sheet, there is no requirement to keep a cash reserve for them.

Bringing these loans back on the books is going to have a significant impact on the amount of cash a bank needs to cover the reserve. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this rule change, American Express says it will have to add $28 billion in loan liabilities while Citigroup says it will have to add over $98 billion! Didn’t we just bail these guys out?

Adding those kinds of numbers to their outstanding loans will mean that the cash reserves will have to be increased by billions of dollars. Consequently, banks are open to consumers negotiating a lump sum settlement. If a bank can get $700 on a $1000 balance, that’s $700 that they don’t have to hold a reserve on and that makes them motivated. Motivated to the point that some banks are actually calling the card holder first and they are calling themselves rather than hiring collection agencies.

There really is no downside for the consumer. By being late on the payments, the consumer’s credit rating is already damaged. If the cash can be put together the consumer can get a significant discount on their debt. However, the time to act is now. Late fees and a default interest rate of 30% are still being applied so why wait.

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Jun 02 2009

A Debt Consoladation Loan Calculator Will It Aid Or Harm.

by Tim Jeffs

A debt consolidation loan is a useful tool, to many people. Using it correctly ot is a must though. Because it is a loan, you are taking on a new line of credit. Misuse it and you could add more debt to the pile you already have.

Use it correctly and you could save money, pay down your debt faster and be able to improve your credit standing.

What Is A Consolidation Loan?

Debt consolidation assistance is designed to assist you pay off the credit you have by replacing all debts with new loan.

For example, if you have four credit cards, the new loan will be used to pay off the four cards, forming just one bigger loan.

Most consolidation loans are based on a fixed interest rate that is applied each month to the loan.

When choosing this type of loan, there are several things you’ll need to consider.

Look for a lower interest rate than you are currently paying on your credit cards.

Be sure you qualify for the loan.

Most of these loans need to have collateral available to be given to you, such as your home’s equity.

Determine what the monthly payment on the loan will be, and be sure you can make that payment without a problem.

Research the fees. You always want to keep yearly fees to a very minimum

If selected correctly, these loans can help you. With a lower interest rate, you should be able to save money by not paying as much in interest payments.

If you can pay more money on the loan each month, you’ll be able to pay off your debt faster, too. Do be careful about the repayment, though.

If you don’t pay off your debt on time, and pay more than the minimum each month, you could be putting yourself into a costly situation for the long and short term.

Consolidation loans can be difficult to get, especially those that are not based on asset value.

Lenders are leery about lending money to those borrowers that have poor credit without some valuable asset backing them up.

But, it is often considered a very risky business to pay down your high interest rate credit cards with a home equity loan, simply because you are tying up your unsecured debt with an asset. Weigh up your options here carefully.

Making The Biggest Mistake

If you are struggling with debt and hope that these consolidation loans will help you get out, you need to avoid the biggest mistake you can possibly make.

That is using your now paid off credit cards again. Because the consolidation loan will pay off your current credit cards, any open cards can be used again.

But, by doing so pushes you even further into debt. Remember, just because you have paid them off with a new loan doesn’t mean your debt has disappeared.

In fact, its still waiting for you! Many people make the mistake of paying off the credit cards with these loans only to use credit cards again, putting themselves in perhaps the worst situation possible.

If you are thinking about a debt consolidation loan, look for the one that best suits you.

You need a low interest rate and a fixed monthly payment. You need to pay more than the monthly minimum to get out of this debt.

You certainly don’t want to reuse the credit cards you’ve paid off again. Manage your debt carefully and these type of loans will work great for you. Don’t do this, and you could have twice as much debt quickly.

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Apr 19 2009

Mortgage Loan Savings, the Smart Way to Own a New Home

by Hans Doornbosch

Foreclosure is a more and more common occurence in the U.S. That’s why shopping smart for a mortgage loan is a vital survival technique in this market. Shopping smart and taking note of as many tips and tricks as you can will make a difference to the property owner in the long term investment process of owning a mortgage.

No-one who buys a home for the first time has the cash to pay for it up-front. People do not walk around with wads of cash stuffed into their pockets and if they did it is highly unlikely they would use it to purchase property. Owning a mortgage it a long term commitment as they usually run from between fifteen to thirty years. Savings on these long-term loans add up substantially in the long run.

Three years is the absolute minimum period of time you should live in a house before selling it. If you don’t intend to do this, don’t buy! Moving and selling a house has a whole load of expenses attached to it and you shouldn’t be doing this every few years. Your property has to appreciate at least 15% to make money, and this rarely happens in so short a time as three years.

Make sure you pay attention to your finances before even applying for a mortgage loan. Make sure that your finances are in good shape and get a credit report to check and dispute anything you believe should not be appearing on it. Pay as much of your credit card debt as you can, this costs you an arm and a leg in interest. Pay all your bills on time in the period preceding your mortgage loan application as this reflects well on your credit report. A good credit score substantially increases your chances of obtaining lower interest on a mortgage.

Take out the mortgage loan product which offers you the longest period to pay it back. This is because the longer the loan period the lower both the interest rate and the repayments on the mortgage loan will be. The easier your mortgage is to afford, the less chance you will have of losing your home to foreclosure if you encounter a crisis.

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